Findings have important implications for minimising risk of cross infection in hospital washrooms

A new, real-life multisite study has found that washrooms have significantly less bacterial contamination when equipped with paper towels for hand drying instead of using jet air dryers.

The study, led by Professor Mark Wilcox of the University of Leeds and Leeds Teaching Hospitals, was carried out in France, Italy and UK and examined the extent of environmental contamination in hospital washrooms from potential bacterial pathogens according to hand drying method. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria – including MRSA and ESBL-resistant enterococci – were detected more frequently in the washrooms when jet air dryers were in use.